Best-selling children’s writer Francesca Simon, author of the worldwide bestselling Horrid Henry series, will be presenting a fun-filled family event in May as part of the Guernsey Literary Festival.The audience will hear all about her brand-new book, Two Terrible Vikings, and meet terror twins Hack and Whack, who are adored by their parents for being the worst Vikings in the village. Expect mischief, anarchy and total chaos when this marauding pair are around!Francesca has long been fascinated by the Vikings. ‘The Vikings are complex.  They are both raiders and farmers, capable of much violence but also much art and brilliance,’ she says.‘I think their bravery, and their cool attitude to life has always intrigued me: fate rules, bravery is key, insults last a lifetime. Vikings have a mythic quality, and everyone finds pirates intriguing. I also love the Icelandic sagas.’ Francesca Simon spent her childhood on the beach in California, and started writing stories from the age of eight. She then went to Yale and Oxford Universities to study medieval history and literature.It was reading so many stories to her son Joshua, that encouraged her to start writing children’s books and many of Francesca’s stories have been inspired by real life situations. One of Francesca’s most successful and irrepressible creations has been the famous (or should that be infamous) Horrid Henry, who first appeared in 1994.Horrid Henry has gone on to conquer the globe and his adventures are published in 31 languages, and have sold over 21 million of copies worldwide.The Horrid Henry series brought pleasure to the lives of so many children, but what effect did the success have on Francesca’s life?‘The most obvious effect is that I could actually make a living as a writer.  This has given me great freedom to write whatever I've wanted to write, without being frantic about money.  It's also meant that I have the huge pleasure of knowing how many children have become lifelong readers thanks to discovering books they wanted to read.’The audience at Les Cotils at 2.30 on Saturday May 15th will be joined by Francesca by live video link, and the event will also be live-streamed for people unable to attend. Tickets for the event (£10, £5 for under-18s) are available on the Festival website guernseyliteraryfestival.com. The link for the live-stream, which is free, is also on the website. The event is sponsored by Rothschild & Co.